Kurt Wimmer wrote the screenplay for the new film, which is set in in the international world of extreme sports as opposed to the Southern California surf scene of the original. The element of an FBI agent infiltrating a crime ring remains the same.

Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove are producing along with Michael DeLuca, John Baldecchi, Chris Taylor and Wimmer.

The original, which starred Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, then a rising director known for her no-nonsense action dramas.

Alcon has been on the hunt for a director for some time, even offering the gig to Wally Pfister when Transcendence was on the ropes (before being revived).

Core, repped by Gersh, made his directorial debut with the 2006 Mark Wahlberg sports drama Invincible.